Reynolds: Visits but no-commits yet...

[tornado]

Akeem Springs . decommit from Mississippi Valley State

BU target Akeem Springs did not show for the All Star Challenge game Saturday that Buovac & Brzoja played in..


..and the talk on the Xavier message board about Staibnbrook is a gas...nobody there wants him..
The Xavier fans think this is a joke - some guy posted pictures of Stainbrook and another poster starts calling him "Mrs. Doubtfire", and they laugh and think the whole thing is an April Fools joke...unless he'd be willing to come as a walk-on

then they conclude the only reason Xavier would ever need the guy is because.
"need bigger bodies - for practice" and "he might be able to set some picks"

I sure hope Stainbrook picks up on the way the Xavier fans are talking about him......

Derek Cooke..Cloud County ...6.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 55% from the field, and 42% on FT

Derek Cooke - if we're still after him - is visiting Wyoming this week - this link has some video and a mention of Bradley

http://www.cowboyaltitude.com/2012/4/14/2948076/wyoming-to-host-two-basketball-recruits-this-weekend

[Beninator]

The "Mrs Doubtfire" comparison is hilarious! Lose the glasses big fella!

[Da Coach]

If Xavier offers Matt Stainbrook (and before today it appears they had not), it would be hard to believe he wouldn't accept the offer. IMO, he'll be a reserve player for his 2 year at Xavier, while he could have been an immediate starter at Bradley.

There is still nothing official to confirm that he has committed to Xavier, but it could be forthcoming. But one new development might change that- it is being rumored the last 2 days that a pretty good power forward, J.D. Weatherspoon from Columbus, Ohio, is leaving Ohio State.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=145&f=3156&t=8905289

http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/weatherspoon_jd00.html

It is being rumored that Xavier is interested in Weatherspoon. They may want to hold their last scholarship a little longer.

Xavier is also a player for Rayvonte Rice, who just completed a visit there this past weekend. From what I am seeing, he is higher on their want list right now and they only have 1 available scholarship.

[srw]

IMO, Im not worried about how we appear to be batting.

Only what we end up with.

We need to get better, and the good news is there is no where to go but up

[lake Camelot]

It looks like this staff is batting .000 for the spring. How many kids have we offered and lost? And it's not like we are recruiting McD all Americans. Maybe Bradley wasted $50 million or so on all the new facilities that aren't paying off.

I know we have missed on a couple kids. But over all I think you are making things worse than they are. We still have a chance with a couple upper level targets of ours. I think we may have missed on our top 2 or 3. But we haven't dropped off much on level of recruit yet.

[Biff]

IMO, Im not worried about how we appear to be batting.

Only what we end up with.

We need to get better, and the good news is there is no where to go but up

That is what a lot of people said after 2010-2011- and yet we did go way further down. And it is foolish to think it couldn't happen again. We lost our top scorer and best player, and seem to be recruiting kids who aren't going to help us next season so what would make anyone think we're going to be better next year? I happy you aren't worried, but a lot of fans I talk to are, and they aren't renewing their tickets if the coaches are blowing off next season.

[lake Camelot]

Well honestly I am not worried because I am hopefull we have a slight improvement next year. I don't anticipate much improvement especially if we stick with transfers.

But, I don't care about that. The third year I hope to make a big jump. I would rather have immediate improvement, but whatever the best level of player we can get I am OK with that. If we have to wait for kids to sit out (Fields) I am ok with that to get a player that can help us succeed. I would be fine with Stainbrook if it somehow turned out he wanted to come here.

But that won't help much next year.

We do have Pickett, Bell, and Wells as new players along with Will. I would think Pickett can take Taylor's place.

[Chibearsfan10125]

We lost 2 players in the rotation, TB and Stix, and have 4 players who didn't play last year who are expected to be in the rotation (Bell, Pickett, Wells, and Egolf). Whoever else we get will be replacing players that were not in the rotation last season. I would like to add two more guys who can help, but, even if we don't, we are slightly deeper than we were a year ago. I'm not expecting a top half finish, but is 7th or 8th in the Valley too much to ask for next year?

[tornado]

The biggest single factor that has the fans on the Xavier message boards against offering Stainbrook
is that he is the best returning player on a 20-loss, low-major team and yet their staff told him to leave
and did not even offer a spot on the roster under any circumstances...


but it is now being reported via Xavier's Rivals site that Matt Stainbrook has committed to Xavier

https://twitter.com/#!/MusketeerScoop/status/191927085332312065

https://twitter.com/#!/MusketeerScoop/status/191930386660589570

http://xavier.rivals.com/default.asp?SID=1139&ReturnTo=xavier.rivals.com&LIN=1

http://xavier.rivals.com/forum.asp?sid=1139&fid=2089&style=2

The Xavier scout.com site has also just now added a notice that Stainbrook committed to Xavier

[Da Coach]

Evan Smotrycz, the Michigan transfer, chose Maryland this morning over Xavier, among others. That was what closed the deal for Xavier and Stainbrook.

[tornado]

Of the previously listed kids we were linked to - here's a few updated thoughts...


Derek Cooke..no word on him
Anthony Fields..still in play but visiting at least one other BCS school so odds are not 100%..should hear something soon
Derrick Barden..no word but as highly rated as he is, there must be some academic hangup that he isn't getting tons of higher offers
Tymell Murphy.. .sounds like even our staff is having doubts here
Matt Stainbrook .. gone to XU
Davon Hayes .. nothing mentioned lately
Mislav Brzoja .. other visits coming up expect him to take the highest perceived offer
Matej Buovac .. ditto
Akeem Springs . no word but have to suspect issues with qualifying
Karrington Ward - likely won't commit until at least next fall so we have a chance - but other bigger schools will surely be getting involved...

[LittleBrave]

We lost 2 players in the rotation, TB and Stix, and have 4 players who didn't play last year who are expected to be in the rotation (Bell, Pickett, Wells, and Egolf). Whoever else we get will be replacing players that were not in the rotation last season. I would like to add two more guys who can help, but, even if we don't, we are slightly deeper than we were a year ago. I'm not expecting a top half finish, but is 7th or 8th in the Valley too much to ask for next year?

I thought the same - finishing 7th or 8th - before last year's dismal season.
Again, with the salary and hype of GF, I would be very discouraged to finish lower than 8th next season...but I can't see us doing that unless we get more shots to fall from outside. We absolutely need DSE to play like a 1st or 2nd team MVC player. The contributions of our newcomers (including NW) will be monumental toward getting somewhere. Having NW and KB get minimal minutes (much like JC at the beginning of last year) is not going to help our depth whatsoever.

With 1 year under Geno's system, most of the guys can focus on other things to improve their game.

[lightsout]

Just tweeted that Derrick Barden will be going to Northern Colorado.

[Da Coach]

Just tweeted that Derrick Barden will be going to Northern Colorado.

https://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=256720#post256720

[tornado]

Here's the outcome on the 10 kids who were on BU's radar and were being discussed just 10 days ago..(Grier hadn't been mentioned yet)

Derek Cooke..just verbaled to Wyoming
Anthony Fields..transfer to Bradley
Derrick Barden..verbals to Northern Colorado
Tymell Murphy.. .still out there with few offers
Matt Stainbrook .. gone to XU
Davon Hayes .. apparently interest by everyone has dropped off - some talk he is not qualified and would have to go juco despite being hyped a bit here locally
Mislav Brzoja .. waiting for Kentucky offer - betcha he grabs it if it comes
Matej Buovac .. verbals to New Mexico State
Akeem Springs .. verbals to NIU
Karrington Ward - left without committing but will be a 2013 recruit so - likely won't commit until at least next fall so we have a chance - but other bigger schools will surely be getting involved